PAINTED BUSH-QUAIL 257 



hunted out by a dog, however, they very strongly object to 

 rising twice. 



Their call, according to Davison, is " a series of whistling 

 notes, commencing very soft and low, and ending high and 

 rather shrill, the first part of the call being composed of single 

 and the latter of double notes, sounding sometimes like tu-tu-tu- 

 tii-tutu-tutu-tutu, &c." By the use of this call, given low and 

 cautiously at first, the scattered covey is reunited again ; the call 

 seems to have something of the ventriloquial character. 



They resemble the thick-billed bush-quails in being very 

 quarrelsome in spite of their sociability, so that they are readily 

 captured in a trap-cage with a call-bird in the inner compartment. 

 The ferocity of some of these harmless-looking little game-birds, 

 and their powers of hurting each other, are indeed remarkable. 

 I remember once seeing one of this species put into a cage where 

 there were others, and after being left unwatched for only a few 

 minutes, it had to be taken out and killed owing to the cruel 

 mangling its head had undergone at the beaks of its new 

 associates — this again exemplifies what I suggested in the case of 

 the jungle bush-quail, that charity begins (and ends) at home 

 with these birds. 



The painted bush-quail is of a tame nature, and likes to live 

 near cultivation and roads, where grain can be obtained ; it 

 especially likes millet, but also, of course, feeds on wild small 

 seeds, which, with insects, form its main diet. It runs so swiftly, 

 says Miss Cockburn, as to look like a little brown ball rolled 

 along the ground. No one seems to have made any special notes 

 about the table qualities of this bush-quail ; its weight is from 

 about two and a half ounces. It is resident in its chosen haunts, 

 and, except perhaps in May, June and July, eggs may be found 

 in any month of the year in one place or another ; on the Nilgiris 

 Miss Cockburn found that the birds bred twice yearly ; in the 

 first quarter of the year and again in autumn. As is so usual 

 with this group of birds, the nest may be a mere scrape in the 

 soil or have a lining of grass ; the cream-coloured eggs, which 

 are ten or even more in number, are described by Hume as 

 intermediate in size and colour between those of the grey 

 partridge and the rock bush-quail. The young are exceedingly 

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